CES 2008

As solid-state drives (SSD) continue to move from PMPs and into notebook computers, manufacturers are pushing the limits so as to give picky customers as much room as they’d get on a traditional hard-drive. Samsung is leading the charge, having announced a whopping 128GB SSD at CES 2008.

This teeny helicopter comes in at just 2.5” tall, less than 4” long and has a diameter of 3.5”. It fits in the palm of your hand. Interactive Toy Concepts used advanced micro motor technology and patented dual rotor design to enable this Micro Aerial Vehicle (M.A.V.) to have a precise and stable flight. It will have seamless turns, ascents, descents and hovering abilities within a 20ft. range.

It has a rechargeable lithium polymer batter for 7 minutes of flying with only a 5 minute charge. That doesn’t seem like a lot of time but since it’s for kids 10+ I’m sure it’ll be plenty with their attention spans. Expect to see it out this year for around $50.

Pyramat had one other game enhancing product that was really hard to miss, the Laptop Sound Booster, and I can vouch for the boosting ability… I could barely hear myself think as I came up to it.

It has two full range illuminating speakers and connects via USB. It definitely amplifies the sound and can support laptops up to 17”. A good feature of this is that it will prevent your laptop from overheating on your legs or your furniture. It also doubles as a writing desk.

Pyramat which is all about performance gaming had a few different gaming chairs on show tonight. I got a relatively good look at two of them, the PM450-WR Sound Rocker and the PC Gaming Chair 2.1.

The PM450-WR Sound Rocker has speakers and a subwoofer with wireless audio reception. It has a cordless rechargeable battery and iPod,Mp3,DS Lite and PSP input. There’s a 24GHz wireless transmitter and it’s made from breathable microfiber fabric. It comes with a multiplayer connection, volume/base controls, headphone jack, a storage pocket and it folds away for storage and has carrying handles for easy transport.

Becker’s Traffic Assist features an easy to control menu, an automatic on/off ignition switch, reality view, route planning, volume/mute control and a day/night design. It has convenient destination entry via alphabet/selection list on a touch screen, postal code entries as well as street addresses, intersections, rest areas and coordinates.

The Zivio, by Joby, is a Bluetooth headset that features an extendable flexible microphone boom to ensure you can communicate in noisy environments, such as CES events. It has an ultra sensitive, retractable microphone that eliminates background noise so you have a clear sound quality.

Back in August we showed you the dual Blu-Ray and HD-DVD USB drive Buffalo were planning on launching in Japan, and lamented its absence elsewhere in the world; well, at CES 2008 they’re announcing US availability, meaning that the format-indecisive can take their pick from both new standards, as well as the old favourites CD and DVD.

When they’re not trying to put Bluetooth into your car or your helmet, Parrot are attempting to get it onto your desk. Their new DS1120 Bluetooth Stereo Speakers use the wireless stereo A2DP profile to play back audio from your cellphone, laptop or PMP, with a Class-D digital amp in each unit adding up to a 30W RMS total power output.

If Audio-Technica’s new ANC7 cans are too big for your liking, but you still want some of that sweet noise-cancellation in your life, then the ATH-ANC3 in-ear earphones could be a better fit. Promising 85-percent ambient noise reduction, thanks to microphones in each ear bud and a box of magic tricks built into the cable, the ANC3s are powered by a single AAA battery.

Check out this nifty little gadget from Parrot! It connects to just about any helmet because it has some pretty flexible mounting options. On the outside you have the mic and the majority of the hardware and then they were ingenious enough to move the speakers to the inside of the helmet and they give you several different options mounting that on the inside of your helmet.

Sennheiser’s new IE headphones aren’t, I don’t think, an indication of in which direction their browser loyalties lie, but instead consumer versions of the company’s pro-headphone line. Dynamic transducers can supposedly cover the whole frequency range with just one unit and the cables are reinforced with Kevlar. Top of the range is the IE8, which has a low-frequency dial on each earpiece to adjust the bass response, while frequency response ranges from 10 to 20,000 Hz and passive attenuation can be up to 26 dB.